Karen Nickel

Karen Nickel June 3, 1961 - October 5, 2010 It is with great sadness that we share with you the passing of Karen Nickel. Born on June 3, 1961 in Denver Colorado, Karen grew up in Seattle, Washington, where she attended Ingraham High School and the University of Washington. Upon her graduation in 1990 from UW, Karen spent a summer in Toga-Mura, Japan, studying the Suzuki technique with other theatre graduates from around the world. It was there that she met her life partner, Pamela Hopkins. They began their life together in Providence, Rhode Island, and after two years, they moved to San Francisco and settled in the Bay Area. Karen entered into the world of business just as she did that of the theatre: with energy, humor and great compassion. She worked as a sales professional, a recruiter, Director of Recruiting and then eventually a Director of Employee Development with Charles Schwab, Inc. in San Francisco. She recently celebrated her ten year anniversary with Schwab and was quite proud of her work there. Karen was an extraordinarily talented writer who entertained both family and friends with witty holiday letters, hilarious short stories and poignant plays. Also an avid athlete, she trained for and completed more than a dozen half marathons, rode her bicycle in the AIDS ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles and rode in an event known as the Death Ride in the Sierras. Karen graced and enriched the lives of everyone she knew. Her unique brand of humor, combined with her unconditional love for her family and friends, brought joy to all of us. Karen is survived by her life partner, Pamela; their daughter Luci, age 8 and 1/2 of Oakland, CA; her parents C. Russell Nickel and Virginia Nickel of Lacey, WA; her 3 brothers: Kevin Nickel of Tacoma, WA; Kent Nickel of Seattle, WA; Kirk Nickel of Boise, ID and their wives; as well as 15 nieces and nephews and a large extended family. A memorial service will be held for Karen at 10:00AM on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley in Kensington, CA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation by accessing the website online, www.wcn.org, phone: 312-578-1439. Please reference that this is in memory of Karen Nickel. Contributions can also be made to the education fund for Luci Hopkins-Nickel via Bank of America in Oakland, CA. Account details will be provided as soon as they are available.